1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to generally to devices and methods for delivering and/or analyzing biological sample. More particularly, the present invention relates to a centrifugal rotor for delivering and analyzing biological sample.
2. Description of Related Art
Biological tests of blood plasma and other biological fluids frequently require that fluids be quickly divided into predetermined volumes for analysis in a variety of tests or assays. It is also frequently desirable to separate potentially interfering cellular components of the material from the biological fluid prior to testing. Such measurement and separation steps have previously been typically performed by centrifugation to separate, for instance, blood plasma from the cellular components, followed by manual or automated pipetting of predetermined volumes of the blood plasma into separate test wells. Such procedures are labor intensive and time-consuming. As a result, various automated systems and methods have been proposed for providing multiple aliquots of plasma suitable for testing in a more efficient manner.
A major advance in the analysis of biological fluids has been the use of centrifugal rotors. These rotors are designed to measure volumes of a biological fluid, such as blood, remove cellular components, and mix the fluid with an appropriate diluent for optical testing. Typically, the rotors provide a plurality of discrete volumes of sample in separate cuvettes in which the sample is optically analyzed.
The rotors capable of performing these functions should be capable of measuring and distributing relatively small volumes of liquid to a large number of cuvettes. The rotor design should be simple and amenable to low-cost manufacturing procedures. In particular, it is desirable for the rotors to be of unitary construction with no separable or movable parts. The present invention addresses these and other needs.